The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday rejected an assertion by Tanzania’s president that coronavirus tests it supplied are faulty. “The tests that Tanzania is using, we know they are working very well,” John Nkengasong told journalists. The Africa CDC, along with the Jack Ma Foundation, a charity founded by the Chinese billionaire, supplied the tests, Nkengasong said. Tanzania’s government spokesman said a team was conducting investigations on the laboratory that conducted the tests, and the outcome will be made public once complete. The World Health Organization expressed confidence in the tests. On Sunday, Tanzanian President John Magufuli said the imported test kits were faulty after they had returned positive results on a goat and a pawpaw – among several non-human samples submitted for testing, with technicians left deliberately unaware of their origins. Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, has donated thousands of tests kits, masks and protective gear to African nations and the equipment is being used across the continent. No other countries have made public complaints about the tests.
SOURCE: REUTERS AFRICA
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